Siobhan Dillon - One Voice - Review

****

Siobhan Dillon

There is a touching, piercing beauty to Siobhan Dillon’s solo album One Voice, released last month. Dillon rose to public prominence in 2006, competing in TV’s How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? and from there has gone on to leading roles in musical theatre on both sides of the Atlantic. Away from the greasepaint and spotlights however, recent years have seen the singer win her own very private and personal battle with cancer. Dillon has thus directed that the album's proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Haven charity as a mark of her own personal reflection upon her journey.

There is of course a poignant timeliness to the album too, for as theatres around the world lie dark amidst the lockdown, the haunting resonance of Dillon’s beautiful interpretations speaks to us all. Comprising 11 ballads, Dillon’s is an eclectic choice drawn from the greats of recent decades. The album carries only a modest nod to her musical theatre heritage, although her take on Sara Bareilles’ She Used To Be Mine from Waitress offers a spine-tingling interpretation of the number, revealing an even richer nuance to this showstopping heartbreaker.

Above all, it is Dillon’s interpretation of some of the most exquisite ballads of recent decades that gives her album such polish. Her cover of Ewan MacColl’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face lifts the song away from the timelessness of Roberta Flack’s original, imbuing a new and haunting charm on the number. Likewise, Roxette’s It Must Have Been Love, which Dillon refreshingly claims is a song that takes her straight back to her childhood, is makes for another treat.

Hearing Dillon rework Tears For Fears’ Mad World brings not only another burst of musical and vocal excellence, but as much, an almost sagelike sadness as a comment upon the world in which we find ourselves today. It is however in her final number Promise Me that Dillon dials down Beverley Craven’s passionate power, leaving instead a sweet and delicate performance that leaves one almost as if discovering the song for the first time.

Don’t just grab this album because it is raising funds for such a worthy cause. Rather, buy it as a work of beauty. Dillon’s melding of melody and voice is an album for today and for the future, while offering a stunning lookback at our musical past - simply gorgeous.

Available via Amazon, Apple Music and Spotify

Somebody Loves Me : The Songs of Gershwin - Album Launch

Friederike Krum, one of Germany’s finest mezzo-sopranos captivated a Ronnie Scott’s audience with a handful of the composer’s classic numbers to launch her album.

Assuming an improvised, off the cuff jazz style, there was but the tiniest hint of restraint as Krum delivered a delicious take on some of the last century's most beautiful songs. Displaying a modest playfulness with the audience as she performed the album's title track, Krum went on to shine in her closing rendition of Summertime, sung in its originally intended operatic style. This wonderful ending to a very modest set allowed Krum to highlight the beauty of Gershwin’s music and her ability to bridge the gap between classical and jazz through powerful, perfectly nuanced vocals. On piano, James Pearson’s accompaniment was sublime. His riffs, while never overshadowing the vocals, inserted just the right level of both gravitas and jauntiness to the occasion.

Krum's album will complement any collection of jazz recordings.  of stunning songs, beautifully sung.


Written by Dina Gitlin-Leigh

Up Pompeii; A 50th Anniversary Audio Revival - Review

***

Adapted from the stage play by Miles Tredinnick that was based on the original characters and BBC TV scripts devised by Talbot Rothwell
Audio adaptation written by Barnaby Eaton-Jones, with Daniel McGachy and Iain McLaughlin
Directed by Barnaby Eaton-Jones

David Benson (in toga) with the cast of Up Pompeii

Titter ye not, and especially not amongst today’s woke folk, but a 1960s comedy classic centred around a captive slave has just been revived for the 21st century with a double CD due for release next month, just in time for Christmas.

Up Pompeii was a popular BBC TV comedy that went on to spawn two feature films in the mid Seventies, and which featured the comedy genius of Frankie Howerd as Lurcio, a slave in  Ancient Rome. The series revolved around Lurcio who would guide the show's viewers through the salacious activities going on within the household of his patrician owner Ludicrus Sextus. Much of the success of the original was down to Howerd, his camp, saucy, and titillatingly sexist gags, puns and irreverent comments that were often delivered straight to camera gave the show its energy, with his surrounding characters inevitably falling to be the butt of his seaside-postcard humour, laden with risque puns and double-entendres.

Working from the original scripts and more recent play adaptation, Barnaby Eaton-Jones has done well to capture the essence of the brilliant original, but the strength of this recording is provided by David Benson’s Lurcio. Benson’s mimicry of Howerd is uncanny and as one closes one’s eyes to listen, the transformation could be complete.

While the style of this politically incorrect curiosity has been maintained by Eaton-Jones, the recording's plotline is as creaky as a dilapidated Roman handcart. The (good) gags come aplenty early on in the piece, but as the story plays out - a yarn to do with runaway slaves and love potions, all mixed in with the day to day lechery of Ludicrus’ villa - the narrative wears dangerously thin. And while some aspects of the script have been updated to reflect 2019 - Ludicrus’ daughter Erotica “slates” (rather than “texts”) to her friend in a nod to modern day social media, complete with aubergine emojis - there is a disappointing hint of pulled-punch hypocrisy in the writing: Up Pompeii's comedy ultimately rests upon Rome’s barbaric slavery. That Eaton-Jones' script displays a complete absence of any comment whatsoever upon the various and august institutions that today are hand-wringingly addressing their guilt at having been built on slave trade wealth, seems to suggests that the slavery imposed by the Romans BCE is more acceptable than that imposed by the English speaking nations, on both sides of the Atlantic, many centuries later. 

Benson is well supported by a talented company whose highlights include a blustering Fraser Hines as Ludicrus alongside the always delightful Madeleine Smith - whose career saw her appear in the original movie alongside Howerd - who sparkles as his wife Ammonia. Cleo Rocos plays Suspenda, the nymphomaniac object of Ludicrus’ lust, while Tim Brooke-Taylor pops up as the evil slave trader Captain Treacherus.

For sure, much of the corny humour of Up Pompeii demands to be as dated as it has been written - this was the Carry On era of the 1960s/70s after all - but this script really needed to have been sharper to have truly stood the test of time. Nonetheless this CD of David Benson and his brilliant cast will offer a nostalgic stocking-filler of a gift for most of the nation’s over-50s.

To order the 2-CD recording, visit this link:

https://spitefulpuppet.com/product/up-pompeii-a-50th-anniversary-audio-revival-2-disc-set/

A Christmas Carol (narrated by Simon Callow) - Review

****

Released on 1st of December from Island Records, Simon Callow’s narration of Charles Dickens’ seasonal classic marks the 175th anniversary of Dickens self-publishing the original tale. Two years ago Callow adapted the novel into an acclaimed one-man staged performance and it is that version now being released.

Much like a luxuriously fruited and brandy drenched Christmas pudding, Callow’s voice (surely a national treasure in itself) serves up the festive fable in a recording that lasts a touch longer than the hour. Callow savours Dickens’ descriptions, his telling of the story offering up vivid portrayals of Ebenezer Scrooge, the three foreboding Spirits that visit him through the early hours of Christmas morning and all the other Cheapside characters. 

Adding a subtly seasonal musical backdrop and occasional musical interludes between the chapters, The Brighouse And Rastrick Band offer a selection of carols from their award-winning brass ensemble. In addition to Callow on CD1, a second disc provides a further 20 or so carol melodies recorded by the band, offering the opportunity to either sit back and listen, or maybe join in for a singalong.

It all makes for a marvelous recording and in our modern world, where video-based entertainment spews forth from screens that are everywhere, how wonderful to simply play this recording and let Simon Callow’s magical voice take one’s imagination back to 19th Century London.

Available to buy and download from all the usual retailers and digital platforms.

Broadway Melodies - Review

****

It is a delight to review Dan Burton’s debut album Broadway Melodies. As choreographer Stephen Mear has long known, Burton is currently amongst the finest of musical theatre “triple threats” (defined as talented in all three skills of song, dance and acting) and a man who unassumingly provides an assured touch of class to all his roles, whether they be leading or support. Recent years alone having seen him give an assured Tulsa alongside Imelda Staunton’s Momma Rose in Gypsy, an immaculate Billy Lawlor in a Parisian 42nd Street, with Burton only recently having closed a flawless (and sold out) run as Jerry Travers in Top Hat at Kilworth House.

Those three shows on their own define Burton’s affinity with and affection for the classics from The Great White Way, so there is a true sense of belonging in listening to the singer’s choices – a selection that also bears a distinctly autobiographical touch too.

Burton opens the album with Singin’ In The Rain (he’d played Don Lockwood at Paris’ Chatelet a couple of years ago and keen fans may care to visit Paris this December where the show is soon to return) and gives the timeless number a warmly respectful treatment that drips with the comfort he feels in the role. The song is one that’s known by literally everyone and yet Burton still imbues it with a loving freshness - and there’s a cracking trumpet riff too from Gethin Liddington.

Chichester’s production of The Pajama Game from a few years back transferred, with Burton, to the West End and so it is little surprise that the show’s Hey There features among Burton's chosen ten songs, with his gorgeously mellifluous interpretation makes this number arguably the album’s highlight. Scaling Richard Adler’s and Jerry Ross’s intoxicating key changes with a charm and a confidence, Burton makes one want to set the track to ‘repeat’, to fully savour an enchanting three minutes of song.

There’s a delightful note of comedy as Burton teams up with Lee Mead for Well, Did You Evah. Crosby and Sinatra will always be a tough act to follow but there’s well-rehearsed nuance in this recording and one still cannot help but chuckle at Burton and Mead’s take on the tried and trusted gags.

The entire collection is a treat, with amongst the other songs included are a fabulously sonorous I Only Have Eyes For You and a perfectly pitched I’m In The Mood For Love. 

Sensitively produced by Mason Neely, Broadway Melodies is a must for anyone who loves exquisitely sung show tunes. The album is but a gorgeous glimpse of Dan Burton’s talent and with Xmas just around the corner, could well make a perfect gift.

Available to download from Amazon and iTunes

Dreamgirls Original London Cast Recording - CD Review

****

Opening at the Savoy Theatre last year to multi-Olivier success, the original London cast recording of Dreamgirls has just been released, offering fans and newcomers alike a chance to recall or simply just savour the show's power and impact.

Captured over 4 nights' performances in February 2017 and produced by the show's composer Henry Krieger himself, the engineering standards of the recording are impressive – and whilst there is a perceptible live-theatre aura to the collected songs, the fidelity of both music and voice is virtually flawless.

Spread across 2 CDs, the 28 tracks are heavy on narrative - and if there is a criticism of the writing it could be that aside from a handful of sensational numbers, too many of the songs lack a lyrical wit. That being said, the big numbers are sensational. Dreamgirls (and its finale'd reprise) captures the pulse of the Motown-esque sound that Krieger aims for, while as Effie White, Amber Riley is of course sensational with the show's signature tune One Night Only and its showstopping act one closer, And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going that belts out of one’s speakers or headphones. Great music to drive to too!

The vocal excellence of the company stands out on the recording - Adam J. Bernard's Jimmy Early is a mini powerhouse, while any opportunity to hear Tyrone Huntley, a young actor who stands head and shoulders above his British peers and who plays C. C. White in the show, is a treat.

Remember though that this is a live recording. And so, when Riley simply walks on stage without having sung a word to make her nightly debut, the audience's gleeful whoops of delight are recorded on the CD too. Call me old fashioned perhaps but for years, on this side of the Atlantic at least, audiences have applauded in recognition of a job well done - rather than cheering on a star for simply showing up. How times change....

But, and make no mistake. Dreamgirls in the West End is playing to electrified packed houses night after night. Listen to this album and you can understand why!

Comrade Rockstar - CD Review

***

Everyone loves a political rocker (don’t they?) and this musical, Comrade Rockstar, from the writer Julian Woolford with music by Richard John is about as political as you can find, telling the story of Dean Reed, a man who was known at the height of his fame as the Soviet Elvis. Sim G Records, a label dedicated to new musical theatre writers and artists, has just released the musical’s soundtrack.

The soundtrack kicks off upbeat with Dean driving and singing about driving (Driving Ambition, “...my pedal to the floor, with my driving ambition, there’s a world to explore”) in a comfy and familiar all American fashion before the darkness quickly sets in with Smallville Colorado, that I can only hope is a little less threatening when performed on stage. It’s all gentle swaying motivational rock with comforting and familiar lyrics, though Gonna Be reveals Reed’s rather crappy patriarch - “Daddy said I’d never amount to nothing”. These tunes along with the cute little ditty, Minnesota, could be a mini soft-rock album in themselves.

As Dean (charismatic Canadian actor Tim Howar) continues his strange career and journey through Eastern Europe in the 60s and 70s, high points come in the form of My First Love and Wonderful Girls which fully encompass the “Elvis” part of the Soviet Elvis persona with warmth and swoon-able lyrics, even if the word “girls” starts to lose all meaning towards the end of the latter.

One can clearly see why Woolford and John were drawn to Dean's story, from the unique political attitude to his complicated marriages, to his lack of musical success in the US, unless you count the uncertified covers by the likes of Chuck Berry, the real Elvis and The Beatles.

The rock song that this Rock Musical has been promising in the long buildup of 12 songs (out of 18) comes in the form of the title number, which is positively head-banging and rounds up Dean Reed’s journey to acceptance and legend status (in Soviet Russia anyway) wonderfully. Watching You Walk Away continues this, complete with screeching guitar opening.

This isn’t a balanced album, some songs are almost unlistenable (Don’t Go) and some are just easily forgettable, but Comrade Rockstar is full of incredibly talented performances and an incredibly complex character at the centre, making it worth every one of Richard Coughlan's fabulous guitar solos.

CD available from SimG Records and to download from the usual channels

Reviewed by Heather Deacon

Golden Days - Review

****

Released this week, Golden Days marks another delicious collaboration of queen and Queen as Kerry Ellis, arguably the finest musical theatre performer of her generation, combines with Brian May (he, famously, of the eponymous rock band) to release their latest collection latter-day classics covered, as ever, with a startling originality.

Ellis' voice has an ethereal timbre that for some years now has been found to sit oh so smoothly alongside May's virtuoso work on the guitar. This album only seals the quality of this inspired partnership. In a range of songs that spans decades, Ellis and May's selection is unconventional. Opening with Amazing Grace, Ellis imbues the hymn with with an unexpected divinity thats deftly picked out by May's fine fingerwork. 

The title track references a cover of Golden Days first recorded by the late Minako Honda. May has some history with the number and together with Ellis, offers up an enchanting take on this unfamiliar song steeped, in a tribute to Honda, in a richly Japanese style. 

The pair have a fine recent history working with Don Black compositions, giving Black's numbers a typically inspiring re-interpretation. For this album they've chosen his Oscar-winning title song from the 1966 movie Born Free and again Ellis offers up a take on the tune that is as reflective of the African landscape as could possibly have been imagined. John Barry may not have imagined the symphonic vista of his melody being given such a mellow-rock treatment - but such is the finesse of Ellis and May's craft that the song sounds as if it had been originally penned with them in mind.

There's an ambitious leap in tackling Gary Moore's Parisienne Walkways. Connoisseurs of fine guitar work (both of the electric and, ahem, the air varieties) rank the number high in the Pantheon of hits, and to hear May magnificently maraud through Moore's masterpiece is nothing short of wonderful. Ellis' take on the lyrics is of course flawless, though it remains a matter of taste as to whether Moore's gritty original is enhanced by Ellis' filigree (albeit one of understated power) treatment.

In an enchanting nod to Rodgers and Hammerstein, one discovers Carousel's  If I Loved You. The song is one of Broadway's most carefully created crafted, coming close to defining the human condition as it moves, relentlessly, through subtly piquant key changes. Ellis and May treat the song with the respect of the gifted craftspeople that they are - and the result is like stumbling across a newly cut diamond that has been fashioned and re-worked from a beautiful original.

From Queen to The King - there's some Elvis here too, as the pair take on Cant Help Falling In Love, May offering up a gorgeous acoustic treatment.

Comprising 13 tracks in all, with Golden Days Kerry Ellis and Brian May have, yet again, created beautiful music. Add it to your collectio.


Available to download from Amazon, iTunes and available from usual retailers

Prodigy Original Cast Recording - Review

****

The CD of the Prodigy Original Cast Recording is just released and it’s a pleasure to re-visit the show that premiered last year in London as the National Youth Music Theatre's summer offering. 

Set around a reality TV show that seeks to discover a child prodigy, Brunger and Cleary's show offers an entertaining glimpse into some of the passions and superficialities of modern life, in which the competitive desire for fame and attention can be all consuming.

Listening to a CD offers a greater opportunity to consider a show’s songs in more detail. Reality TV is fertile ground for writers. A couple of years ago I Can't Sing! Had a short-lived outing at the London Palladium, lampooning The X-Factor. To be fair Pippa Cleary's compositions stand up well in comparison to Simon Cowell's multi-million pound extravaganza, but where Prodigy falls a little flat is in the wit of its libretto. Brunger and Cleary are clearly a talented pair but a sharper bite to their lyrics wouldn't go amiss. 

The CD also demonstrates quite how magnificent the female voices were in the NYMT class of 2016. Sephora Parish is a knockout in Block Out The Noise, Laura Barnard's Good TV brings an effusive energy, whilst the wryly perceptive Mother's Shoes duet from Emma Ernest and Caroline Whittingham offers sage observations on what really matters in life, in a song that is impressively free of cliché. There is some comic genius in the show with the younger siblings’ double act, We've Got Talent Too, proving as infectiously wonderful recorded as it was live on stage. Bravo to Hannah Irvine and Luke Rozanski for giving the number the comedic chutzpah that ranks it alongside Kander and Ebb's Mr Cellophane from Chicago.

Well engineered, the recording is a credit to NYMT’s instrumentalists and especially Musical Director Candida Caldicot with the show’s band delivering an exquisitely professional sound. This is a CD that is well worth adding to one’s collection.

MS. A Song Cycle - Review

*****

An album themed around the impact of a disease makes for an unusual release at the best of times and yet there is an unexpected noble beauty to Rory Sherman's MS. A Song Cycle. As Sherman writes in his CD sleeve notes, most of the people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are women, often in their 20s or 30s whose lives are at best, rearranged and at worst, devastated. Drawn from his own conversations with friends and family, Sherman has written a collection 14 songs, each one set to music by a different composer, and each recorded by a different woman drawn from amongst the cream of Britain's musical theatre performers.

Whilst all of the recordings are as humbling as they are beautifully crafted, a number are particularly profound, moving or even dammit downright entertaining. Robert J. Sherman (he of the illustrious songwriting line of Shermans and no relation to Rory) has scored the reflective Mondays, recorded by Rosemary Ashe. There's an innate sense of wisdom in Ashe's timbre, singing of the therapy found in a weekly group meeting - with Sherman's gentle melodies only enhancing the song's message.

What's That Jim? scored by George Stiles and sung by Caroline Quentin has a music-hall ring to its take on a woman's frustration at her condition, with a clever fusion of wit and irony in  Quentin’s delivery. Likewise the satire in Mummy's Not Well sung by Lauren Samuels with music by Paul Boyd is another bittersweet gem. The song tells of a child's perspective on her mother's diagnosis, the lyrics bringing a clever poignancy - naive, yet knowing.

Laura Pitt-Pulford's Cerulean Skies (penned by the talented Sarah Travis, more often to be found directing other people's music rather than composing her own) offers a deeply personal message from a mother contemplating her own decline in health as she addresses her child. 

One of the most heartbreaking perspectives on the album comes from Caroline Sheen's Tortoise & Hare (composer Gianni Onori) - sung by a woman who sees her partner physically speeding up in comparison to her own battle with MS, that is leaving her impaired and slow. It's perceptive, painful songwriting, powerfully performed.

And that last sentence is actually an apt description for the entire album. This review has highlighted those that tracks I found left the deepest personal impression and the key word there is “personal”. There's a bevy of other songs from other talented performers and creatives, each of whose contribution may strike each listener differently. They all deserve credit so: Also appearing on the album are Alexia Khadime, Lillie Flynne, Anna Francolini, Jodie Jacobs, Siubhan Harrison, Josefina Gabrielle, Preeya Kalidas, Janie Dee and Julie Atherton. Additional compositions come from George Maguire, Brian Lowdermilk, Erin Murray Quinlan, Verity Quade, Amy Bowie, Luke Di Somma, Tamar Broadbent, Robbie White and Eamonn O'Dwyer.

And on nearly all of the tracks, Ellie Verkerk puts in sterling work on the piano.

No personal gain is being made from the album, with profits going to The MS Society. All the artists involved have donated their time and talent, with Richard O'Brien providing the cash to get the CD released. As such, this review can only be a loving appraisal - to critique would be invidious - as would be to award anything less than 5 stars. MS. A Song Cycle is beautifully performed. Buy it!

Sides - Review

****

Sides is Nadim Naaman's second album and it is a pleasure to catch up with this talented young man's vocal interpretations of some of Disney's and the West End's greats along with a selection of his own compositions. Naaman has also invited a number of musical theatre's contemporary leading lights to accompany him, making the album a refreshing selection of voices.

The songs are split half and half between Naaman's own writing and his covers. His own works are easy on the ear and beautifully sung even if I'd have much rather heard Jeremy Secomb duet with Naaman in a song from their pop-up pie shop Sweeney Todd that I missed in the West End. But, with a couple of exceptions, the original stuff is a bit too much of an introspective ballad-fest to truly inspire. There is however some fabulous acoustic guitar work throughout the album (of which more below) and Naaman's This'll Be The Year, has a rhythm that almost suggests a hint of Dire Straits. The song-writing is at its best in Marry Me, which seems to bear an unbridled autobiographical energy bursting from the stanzas. It is a real pleasure to listen to this uninhibited celebration of love.

Naaman is at his finest however in covering the songs written by the industry’s greats. Having played in the Southerland/Tarento production of Maury Yeston’s Titanic on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s a nice touch that sees him share the singing honours of the show’s The Proposal/The Night Was Alive with Rob Houchen who has replaced him in this summer’s Titanic revival of the show. 

A great modern creative collaboration has been that of Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken. Naaman’s take on their Out There from their The Hunchback Of Notre Dame is terrific. If this recording is Naaman laying down a marker to be considered for a West End run of the show, it’s a classy calling card. He swoops and soars through the song’s beautifully descriptive narrative, giving every suggestion that he’d make a top-notch Quasimodo.

The biggest treat however lies in Naaman’s beautiful arrangement of the title song from The Phantom Of The Opera, the show in which he currently plays Raoul. Accompanied by Celinde Schoenmaker (his current Christine) Naaman gives the number a flamenco interpretation – replacing Lloyd Webber's gothic organ riffs with guitar and, sensationally, trumpet. Of course this version can never be for the punters at Her Majesty’s Theatre – however as a re-worked interpretation of an iconic song, I’d venture to suggest it is unsurpassed. More of this please.

Sides shows a very different side to this most gifted of Gooners and is well worth the download!

Heart of Winter -Review

****

Written by Tim Connor and Lia Buddle

Corinne Priest

An informal performance of Buddle and Connor’s new song cycle Heart of Winter offered a chance to hear this new-release played live and to discover its collection of witty and charming songs alongside a stunning musical accompaniment. 

Far too often song cycles miss the mark. Lacking solid narrative, they can hover in a musical theatre limbo, somewhere between show and concert and frequently ending up as a series of numbers with little interlocking story or characters to connect with. Heart Of Winter marks a vast improvement on this trend.

Consisting of 12 songs, we are thrown headfirst into the life of primary school teacher Kate, a brash and bold Northerner who's not afraid to say exactly what she’s thinking, literally seconds after she has broken up with her boyfriend of three years following her discovery of his having cheated on her.  

We follow Kate’s journey through all the typical stages of post relationship trauma, pushing through into learning how to readjust to normal life. On My Way is a hilarious up-tempo number, whilst Back To School – in which hungover, Kate has to teach needy, loud primary school children how to be dancing crabs -  offers an instantly recognisable nuance. The balladry works too. The audience is moved to an intense silence in Something About The Room as Kate becomes aware of quite how much she misses being in a relationship, battling with her inability to hate her unfaithful ex.

Connor's lyrics are delightfully easy to relate to, but it is their performance and delivery by Corrine Priest that makes this album wonderful.  Priest is a gifted actress. Her comedic timing is spot on and she catches the humour in each lyric with clear intelligence, alongside the change you feel in her voice and persona amidst the album’s more reflective moments.

Heart of Winter marks an impressive creation. Lia Buddle, Tim Connor and Priest should all be proud of their achievement. 

Reviewed by Charlotte Darcy

I Say Yeh Yeh - CD review

****

Like a fine cognac, Frances Ruffelle's most recent album deliciously distils her passion for France. Remembering that it was Ruffelle who created the role of Eponine in Les Miserables, a show that was to evolve into one of musical theatre's few truly global sensations, that she is in love with all things French is hardly a surprise.

I Say Yeh Yeh is a pot-pourri of songs special to Ruffelle for a variety of reasons. Les Mis is there, obviously, as are a handful Piaf numbers - but it is in discovering the unexpected amongst the tracks that the album takes on an eclectic charm.

Bookending the collection is Les Miserables and the album opens with L'un Vers L'autre, a Boublil and Schoenberg composition that never made the English show's final cut. The song offers a tiny glimpse into the genesis of a show, with echoes of recognisable motifs occasionally breaking cover. One is left, pondering smilingly, how different the show might have been had L'un Vers L'autre been included.

Eponine's big solo, On My Own closes the album, in an intriguing re-work. Ruffelle's timbre is timeless, but when this most famous of show-tunes is sung here by a woman rather than a girl, Herbert Kretzmer's lyrics are imbued with a worldly-wise insouciance that replaces the number’s hallmark youthful aspiration and gives the song an intriguing evolution.

Ruffelle admits that after having searched for a perfectly resonant male voice to record the enigmatically romantic Paris Summer, it was only her chance suggestion to local hairdresser Rowan John that led to him covering the track - in a vocal revelation as charming as the song's lyrics.

It has famously been recounted by Ruffelle that it was her take on Edith Piaf's Hymn To Love at a Les Mis audition that landed her both the role and later, John Caird the show's co-director as her husband. Traditionally anthem-esque, though recorded on here with a soft accordion accompaniment, Hymne À L'amour is included along with a handful of other Piaf gems. The song, perhaps more than any other and even though performed in English, defines Ruffelle's exquisite understanding of Piaf's magic. (Her take on the French singer in Paul Kerryson's production of Pam Gem's Piaf, staged at Leicester's Curve some 3 years ago, reviewed here, was arguably definitive and this album offers a neat reminder of Ruffelle's excellent interpretation.)

Produced by Gwyneth Herbert - who accompanies Ruffelle on a cover of Georgie Fame's eponymous title track - the CD offers a most delicate of musical mille feuilles, a finely crafted foray Français. Ruffelle adds that she recorded I Say Yeh-Yeh for love, rather than the pressure of any commercial or contractual requirement and it shows. A must-have for her fans and Francophiles alike!

Available for download from iTunes

Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett sing Scott Alan - Deluxe Edition - Review

****

Scott Alan has recently brought out a Deluxe version of the album he released last autumn that featured the paired voices of Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett. Alan has worked with many of today's musical theatre stars, but with Tompsett and in particular Erivo, there is a muse-like connection between the writer and his performing talent.

So what's new in this Deluxe offering? Aside from the repeated original collection (reviewed here) there are three additional vocal interpretations and charmingly, a full set of "instrumentals only". Of the new stuff, Letting Go Of You is a hallmark Alan ballad, fuelled by experience and voiced by Tompsett who intuitively lends an almost autobiographical voice-over to the number, telling Alan's life through his song.

Erivo adds another solo effort with the profoundly inspirational Don't Give Up - again drawn from the depths of a depressive trough but still, sweetly and amidst the desperation, offering a message of essential hope.

The most revealing addition to the album is the duetting given to Anything Worth Holding Onto, a song long defined by Erivo's interpretation. Here however, with Tompsett delivering those familiar opening lyrics, hearing this scorching number sung by a man place's the song squarely back in Alan's personal domain, opening up another perspective into both the song's singer and its writer. When Erivo accompanies Tompsett she sings in the manner of the song's master (or rather, perhaps, its mistress) stepping back and letting her fellow actor (or in this particular number, maybe even her apprentice) explore the depths of the song's reach.

Perhaps the most charming aspect of the Deluxe version is simply the opportunity to sit back and re-appreciate At All, the song Alan wrote for Erivo in anticipation of her crossing the Atlantic to open in The Color Purple on Broadway. Well the show’s opened now - and the song that so presciently talked about the fame and acclaim that awaited her has been proved correct. As we sit in England and ponder that we might just have lost this Londoner forever, the song takes on a deeper poignancy knowing that Erivo is arrived on Broadway, her star billing more than deserved with the deluge of five-star reviews garnered by the show.

The instrumental tracks are a gift for musical theatre performers, students and fans alike. Alan's songs are popular choices in modern balladry and these recordings open up his work to interpretation, exploration (and quite possibly, dare I say it, well-meaning decimation too) to those who admire his work.

If you love the genre and admire Alan's writing, this Deluxe album will only enhance your collection.


The album is available via the usual channels on Amazon and iTunes.

Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett sing Scott Alan - Review

****

There’s an eclectic, relaxed charm to this collection of Scott Alan’s songs as performed by Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett. With Alan having enjoyed a modest UK residency this summer / autumn, there is a natural evolution that has seen this album born out of a collaboration of three people who evidently enjoy and above all complement each other’s talents.

Many people will have seen Alan perform live at London’s various cabaret venues in recent years with both Erivo and Tompsett. Whilst this album doesn’t seek to replicate a gig’s unique intimacy, it offers a glimpse into the warm and informal excellence that defines these particular collaborations. 

With few exceptions it is the whole of this album that makes it distinctive, rather than specific songs. Each track is passionately recorded and carefully mastered but Alan cognoscenti may feel some works have been more finely crafted elsewhere. Erivo’s take on Anything Worth Holding Onto in particular, is “heartbreakingly sublime” on the Greatest Hits Volume 1 album – whereas here it’s simply more peacefully introspective, though still retaining its inherently inspirational message.

Tompsett’s Sail is divine – and whilst all of his work on the album is flawless, this number defines the man's regard for Alan’s work. Singing with Erivo on harmonised numbers that include Warm, You’re Not Alone and Always/Goodnight offers up a surfeit of beautiful balladry. 

Perhaps the album’s biggest treat is a recording of At All, written for Erivo as she takes her first steps as a Broadway leading lady. There's a huge significance to this song for it was in 2013, midway through Erivo’s storming, starring run as Celie in The Color Purple (the production that is now transferring to NY) at London’s modest Menier Chocolate Factory that she first came to Alan’s work. Even after rushed rehearsals Erivo only unlocked Anything Worth Holding Onto as she sat on the O2 stage, in front of thousands, with tears streaming down her face. The friendship that has since evolved between the writer and his muse is a joy to behold – and this number defines the pair’s mutual understanding.

If some suggest the album’s a three way self-indulgence, they’re being cynical. Only this week Alan is on record tweeting: “True artists don’t compete with others, they support.”

This album defines that sentiment, go add it to your collection.

Available to download from 9th October

Photography: Darren Bell

Lovebirds - CD Review

****

Music, lyrics and book by Robert J. Sherman

Premiering at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Lovebirds marks some gorgeous new musical theatre from Robert J. Sherman. The son and nephew of legendary tunesmiths Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman, Robert J.'s show harks back to the era of vaudeville, Scott Fitzgerald and days of schmaltzy, beautifully voiced romance.

Telling a simple fantasy fuelled fable, whilst Sherman has written all of Lovebirds’ music, lyrics and book, the unmistakable influence of his beloved predecessors runs through the melodies like a stick of rock. Lovebirds is a world of singing birds and heartfelt passions, where a barber-shop troupe of singing penguins is signed up to a fading vaudeville show of macaws and parrots. Jealousies and rivalries emerge and an unlikely love blossoms before ultimately all the birds are in harmony expressing a passionate hope for the future. It’s a corny if imaginative premise, but what makes Lovebirds take flight is the beauty of Sherman’s music and the immaculate performances of his gifted cast.

Whilst Lovebirds is undoubtedly a sincere and warm-hearted look back at a more gentle time, it is playing to a 21st century audience – and notwithstanding the performers’ talent (captured beautifully in this immaculately engineered recording) there are a handful of Sherman’s rhymes that are too easily predicted, with other lyrics crying out for a “Tim Rice” touch to sharpen their wit. And whilst the album’s penultimate number Today Is Yesterday’s Tomorrow offers an outlook on the future that is syrup-like in its optimism, one cannot help but be reminded of 1963’s offering from the senior Shermans, There’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow - to the extent that the sixties number almost overshadows Robert J. Sherman’s work.

There are some true gems in this recording – there’s an affectionately wistful, penguin-performed tribute to Mary Poppins that neatly references the birds’ appearance in Disney’s iconic movie, whilst the company number Tinpanorama makes for a sassy treat that sounds like it features some sensational tap work.

Amidst a flock of treats with Sherman’s melodies referencing the charleston as well as a soft-shoe shuffle in there too – and with Greg Castiglioni and Ruth Betteridge leading a flawless 9-strong troupe, there is much in Lovebirds to please the genre’s cognoscenti. An economically sized band of 3 musicians, under Neil Macdonald’s accomplished direction, also deliver excellence.

It is possible that some of the genius of the Sherman brothers came precisely because they were a pair – able to both criticise and hone each other’s contribution. Robert J. Sherman, who has a recognised gift for both composing and storytelling, writes alone. With a snappier lyricist for a wingman, Lovebirds could yet prove sensational.

Physical CDs are available from www.SimGProductions.com

A Spoonful Of Sherman - CD Review

*****

Just released on CD, A Spoonful of Sherman is a delightful recording that preserves one of the most sparkling revues of recent years. Staged at the St James Theatre in 2014, the show captured the songwriting genius of Richard and Robert Sherman. I reviewed it then (here) and an extract of my review, now to be found quoted on Wikipedia reads “It is a wonder that this charming show has not been staged before. Amidst all of Broadway’s giant songwriting partnerships, none reaches out to the child within us quite like the legacy of the Sherman Brothers. Cleverly crafted songs that speak of hope against adversity, written in verses that talk to every age.” Listening to the CD now, those words ring ever true.

The two disc compilation not only includes the show’s music, but also Robert Sherman’s son Robbie’s commentary that affords a remarkable insight into the lives of his father, uncle and grandfather. Aside from Disney classics that included The Jungle Book and Mary Poppins, the Sherman brothers penned soundtracks for other studios’ movies such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Slipper And The Rose. Few other movie scoring partnerships have matched their prodigious output.

Robbie Sherman conceived the show with musical director Colin Billing – and it is Billing who accompanies on piano throughout – assembling a lineup of some of the UKs finest musical theatre performers. Leading ladies Emma Williams and Charlotte Wakefield sing with Stuart Matthew Price and Greg Castiglioni, with solos and close harmonies that make an exquisite collection.  

As expected there are lavish nods to the Shermans' most famous works. Williams’ Feed The Birds and her later duet with Price in Doll On A Music Box / Truly Scrumptious capturing the magic of the originals and imbuing them with a contemporary poignancy. The CD brims with moments of wistful reflection for those of us old enough to have had these songs as the soundtrack to our childhood.

Castiglioni contributes a noble Bert from Mary Poppins with Step In Time, whilst his Ugly Bug Ball is a comic treat. Mention too to Price’s Poppins number – A Man Has Dreams – another gem. Wakefield leaves her mark of youthful excellence on the show’s title number, whilst also reminding us of quite what a gem The Jungle Book’s My Own Home truly was. 

Not just about the big movie numbers, there is a nod to the Sherman Brothers’ oft forgotten contribution to Tin Pan Alley that includes Price’s take on the 60’s classic You’re Sixteen along with Tall Paul.  

Robbie Sherman has inhertited the family’s musical genes and the album also includes a couple of numbers from his own work Bumblescratch – but it is in his appreciative commentaries on his forebears that so much is revealed. Robert Sherman was amongst the US troops that liberated Dachau and thus bore witness to  the depths of man’s inhumanity. In the post-war years and as the Cold War prevailed, this knowledge gives an added depth to the purest sense of human optimism that underscores the brothers’ There’s A Great Big Beautifiul Tomorrow and the timeless (and to be fair, often infuriating!) simplicity of It’s A Small World (After All).

Offering so much more than just a collection of beautifully performed songs, this is a lovingly crafted tribute to a pair of the 20th century’s cultural giants. A gorgeous CD and not just for lovers of musical film and theatre, A Spoonful Of Sherman appeals to the child in us all.


Available to purchase at:
http://www.simgproductions.com/Records/A_Spoonful_of_Sherman.html 

Michael Armstrong - The Album - Review

****

In a music business that can too often be driven by corporates, manufactured clones or finely choreographed campaigns, it is easy to become disillusioned. But for those living in the hope of finding honest music from real musicians, there is much to be celebrated in Michael Armstrong.

A true music fan, Armstrong devours the work of his idols – Paul McCartney, Steely Dan, Billy Joel and more – living and breathing every note, chord progression and lyric from the greats and it shows. His debut album, two years in the making, has been built upon a gift for storytelling, that works both lyrically and musically.

If nothing else, the names featured on the liner notes speak volumes. Alongside Armstrong, Keith Bessey whose credits include Elton John, 10cc and The Ramones co-produces, whilst guitarist Elliott Randall (Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers) features on three tracks, including the superb The Cola Paranoia. Lead singer of The Hollies, Peter Howarth, lends his vocals to Armstrong’s debut single, The Radio Years – a recording that has deservedly garnered much support from BBC Radio 2 airplay. That the album was recorded in The Beatles' hometown of Liverpool is a source of much spiritual and artistic pride to Armstrong.

Armstrong is a talented writer and musician, displaying both depth and character. Vocally he offers a passing similarity to Jon Bon Jovi and even when he’s not singing, his arrangements are a delight, notably a gloriously slowed down cover of Billy Joel’s Allentown.

While the whole record has clearly been put together in a considered way – the two year process shows and is appreciated – there are particular highlights including Innocence Of Men and a forthcoming single The Contented Man (These Halcyon Days).

Packed with catchy melodies, harmonies and rousing choruses, the album is but built upon stories of substance. One can empathise with the Armstrong's characters whilst his lyrics tell of real and relatable issues. Like the musical greats he has learned from, Michael Armstrong has created a truly memorable album. 

For more information visit http://www.michaelarmstrongmusic.co.uk/ 

The Radio Years is available to download now from iTunes and Amazon. 

Michael Armstrong The Album is due for release on 29 June

Guest reviewer: Bhakti Gajjar